Through our relationship with DHS, ACTION has been notified about three separate opportunities for summer internships for high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students.
- 2026 DOE Scholars - Internships - Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence
- 2026 DOE Scholars - Internships - Office of Policy
- Homeland Security Professional Opportunities for Student Workforce to Experience Research
All three opportunities are paid, federally sponsored research or internship programs administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) on behalf of major U.S. government agencies, and all appointments are structured as non-employee affiliations with ORISE. Every program requires U.S. citizenship and targets college-level participants across a wide range of STEM and policy-related disciplines. Furthermore, the stipends for graduate students are identical at $950 per week, and all three offer reimbursement for inbound and outbound travel (up to $1,000) for participants living more than 50 miles from the assigned host site.
The primary differences lie in the host agency, specific mission, and benefits structure. The DOE Scholars programs are hosted by the Department of Energy, focusing on either Intelligence and Counterintelligence or Energy Policy, while the DHS-POWER program is hosted by the Department of Homeland Security, focusing on broader security-related research. Regarding eligibility, the DHS-POWER program is the most restrictive, requiring a minimum 3.0 GPA and excluding recent graduates, while the DOE Scholars - Office of Policy (OP) is the most inclusive, accepting high school students. In terms of compensation, the DHS-POWER program uniquely offers a significant $400 per week housing allowance for eligible participants, a benefit not explicitly listed by the DOE programs. Finally, the structure varies: DHS-POWER is a mandatory 10-week on-site summer program, whereas the DOE opportunities offer more flexibility with variable durations and the possibility of virtual or hybrid appointments.